For I Am A Side Character - 86: A Lovely Dinner with Jessabelle.

As much as I would like to praise Jessabelle for her efforts to try and make amends, the entire experience I had in that room was simply awkward. I don’t know why she pushed the boundary of our current fellowship to this much, but now…as we sat face to face against each other, the only expression she held was a nervous smile that showed just how much she was regretting this decision.

It all happened about a few minutes ago.

The moment I entered the 8th room, what awaited me was the beautiful interior of the room, it spoke of nobility that came to simply take my breath away…and along with this room was Jessabelle who just like me was also wearing her uniform.

Given the time that she only had about an hour to fix herself from the academy to this restaurant, I can understand why she was still wearing her uniform.

But when she invited me inside, I was seated in front of her.

The room only had one table set with only a pair of seats meant for only the two of us. And beside her was a bell that I could only assume was used to call in the waiter for our orders in the restaurant, but weirdly enough, I wasn’t given a menu, nor could I find any on the table.

“Um, shouldn’t there be a menu I can choose from?” I asked as I was a bit confused of the lack of menus on the table.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I already took the pleasure of having to order something for the two of us. In about five minutes from now, the food will arrive.” she said as she looked confident, but still slightly nervous.

“Okay…” as I accepted her decision to order for me, I simply took my time by looking around the room.

And still enough, I was quite taken aback by just how amazing the interior was of this place.

But soon enough, as I was mesmerized by the interior, I soon remembered the reason why I came here. And that reason was because of Jessabelle.

So I turned back to her, but when I did, I noticed that her flushed face wasn’t going away for some reason. And that’s when it hit me…Jessabelle was wearing make up.

“…?” I was a bit curious as to why. From what I know, she wasn’t the type to wear make-up, it just gets in the way of hunting in the dungeon. In the book, she was described as a natural beauty, where even without some cosmetics, she was like a fiery flower that could catch anyone’s attention. And I agree to this without a doubt. Just like how she was gifted with magic, in the factor of her beauty, she was a 10/10…the only issue about her character was the personality of how prideful she was.

Even to someone like Jason who was close to her than anyone else as it was mentioned in the book, she rarely ever shows any form of change or affection to him that would make her look less annoying. Her talent and beauty was what brought her to her position.

But now…here she was, wearing makeup in this room.

I could say that she did well when putting on her makeup, but I can tell just how inexperienced she was when she applied it on her. This must have been a first for her, but I wasn’t really bothered by it, and It made me wonder why she did something out of her own character…why is such a prideful person wearing makeup at this moment.

And to my curiosity, I couldn’t help but ask upfront.

“…Hmm, this might seem out of line, but are you wearing make-up right now?” I asked.

“Heh?! Oh…um, y-yes…yes I am.” she said as she stuttered for some reason, and along with it, she was also fidgeting in a rather odd manner.

And from my question alone, she turned even more red. As if she was embarrassed that I noticed her makeup.

‘She’s really acting different.’ I thought to myself as I was a bit taken aback by her unusual reactions.

Soon enough, the food came and I was taken aback by the food she had ordered.

“..Um, this seems like a bit much, don’t you think?” I asked as I saw a whole roasted chicken being opened right in front of us.

“Oh don’t worry sir, you can always have it bagged and taken out, we offer that service here.” said the waiter who placed each and every food that Jessabelle ordered for just the two of us.

And once the waiter left, we were left with the table being full of food. I could see that Jessabelle was able to order a whole medium sized lobster for herself, while on my side, I was also given the same kind of dish, which was a lobster. Along with these, we were give bread, a bowl of soup, a side of roasted garlic used for toppings on the bread and wine set on the side for anyone to reach.

This was a full meal for us. And simply put, the more I look at this entire set-up, it made me think that it was more a “Date” than anything…but I didn’t push to that idea so much, since I know that Jessabelle only wanted to invite me here to apologize.

“…”

But now that I think about it…for someone as prideful as her, why would she apologize to someone like me?

I know for a fact that even when she did something wrong to Jason, she would not even give it a thought to apologize to him, so why make the effort for someone like me?

Now, I was starting to doubt her reasons for inviting me here.

“Um…before we start, can you be upfront about why you invited me to a fancy dinner in a fancy restaurant?” I asked as I could not yet touch the utensils. I was too focused on the reasons why Jessabelle was acting so out of her own character.

“Didn’t Jason already told you?” she asked as she stabbed the lobster in front of her with her dinning knife.

*Thud* I could hear just how rough she was with the lobster in front of her.

”Um…Well, he did told me that you wanted to make amends. Apologize for this morning at least.” I said as I picked up the carving knife and started cutting through the roasted bird in front of me.

“Yes, that’s right…you’re right.” she said a she looked away from me.

“…” and from the way she couldn’t look me in the eye, I stopped moving altogether, and I simply waited for her to start her apology.

I listened.

“…I’m sorry.” she said as she turned to me. She looked me in the eye and she apologized.

And there it was…

Confirmation that something was wrong. For Jessabelle to apologize…it was a bit baffling to me.

For some reason, I couldn’t believe it…so I remained silent to her apology.

But she didn’t stop with a simple ‘I’m Sorry.’ She continued on.

“I’m not used to apologizing, mostly because I’m not in the wrong…but the things I did to you were wrong and I want to make it right for you. ” she said.

“…” I stayed silent, processing her words.

“The reasons why I hit you…I don’t know why I do them. But I don’t hate you. That’s more of an issue about me and not about you. Because…because you’re a great guy. I see it every day in training—how fast you improve, how well you fight. I watch, and I can tell just how great of a person you really are. So hitting you for no reason is more of a problem on my end.”

I was taken aback by her honesty. Jessabelle, the prideful and seemingly untouchable girl, was admitting her faults to me.

She continued, “I want us to be friends, Soril. Real friends. I know I’ve made that difficult, but I’m willing to change if you’ll give me a chance.”

Her vulnerability was disarming. I could see she was genuinely trying, and that meant something to me.

And that was what baffled me…what changed her to be this direct?

***

*Jessabelle’s POV*

As early as I was able to perceive my own identity, I’m not one to admit defeat.

I’m strong, capable and simply put, a beautiful mage that stands above the rest.

And I’m also willing to admit defeat in front of an enemy who was clearly superior than I was…and this doesn’t happen often. In fact its rare that I find people above my level.

For someone like Jason, I could easily see him as my rival, with day by day of improvements, he’s someone who has a bright future ahead of him and I’m not mad to admit that.

As for some like Audrey Yagami, she’s also someone who I can consider to be my rival. I have a chance of beating her in a battle if only she committed to a duel, but that kind of event might never come seeing as how distant she is.

Anyone else who I can consider my rival is someone who is guaranteed to be great in the future…

And then all of a sudden, a boy came and challenged me.

A boy who I had no interest in whatsoever at all.

And I thought that when we fought, I could easily defeat him just like how I did at the entrance exam…but out of nowhere, I found myself defeated.

Me…I was defeated by someone who I was sure to be nothing special…

But he did and it changed my perspective about him altogether. But that fight wasn’t the end of it…because for some goddam reason, I could not keep him away from my thoughts. At least once a day…I would find myself thinking about that bastard in some really inconvenient times.

Taking an exam…he would be there. I would see the letters on my paper start to jumble up and make it look like I was looking at his face.

Eating dinner…his face would suddenly take form in the reflection of my tea while I was sipping my cup.

And at some cases, whenever I would get a glimpse of him from afar, I would feel excited but hateful at the same time. That was one of the reason why I would hit him for no apparent reason.

And it only got worse as soon as summer started.

Because I was not able to see him once for two weeks and it started to affect me badly.

I would get really agitated while we were hunting in a dungeon…and at one point, I would day-dream of him being by my side and I would get the chance to hit him all day long.

And the last straw that ruined all of my reasoning was that dream that I saw of him…he was confessing to me and I accepted it…

That ruined the very cause of my reasoning.

I had to admit it…something was wrong about me, every time I think of that bastard. At first I thought it was a curse so I had myself checked by my father, but he found nothing, so I remained stuck with this issue.

And when finally school was back again, I felt giddy when going back even after I had that nightmare of him confessing to me. Deep down I was filled with an unknown feeling inside of me the moment I saw him get off of his bike first thing in the morning. It was like I was feeling fire-crackers in my stomach and at the same time, butterflies were there, flying around with the fire-crackers.

It was a complicated feeling and I couldn’t help myself so I ran away.

I tried to fix myself in the bathroom appearance wise, but when I left the bathroom, I meet him yet again and this time I couldn’t help control my own emotions towards that bastard, so I threw everything at him.

Magic was included and I destroyed the school hallway, but that attack gave me the chance to run away again.

I made myself look like a coward yet again.

When I ran away, I made my way to the classroom, but before I could reach a safe distance, out of sheer coincidence, I encountered a person who for some reason made my stomach churn. A girl who I recognized was a person who always stood beside that boy…the person who always has the chance to spar with the boy.

Looking at her, I felt a sense of jealousy.

Me…I envied her for some reason, and I could not get rid of this feeling at all.

So I asked myself, why was I jealous of her? And why did it churn my stomach every time I think of him…

And then I heard it…

A gossip that simply tore my heart into two…

As I was finally reaching my classroom, I heard a gossip from two students that went to class-A.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“Hmm? Hear what?”

“Apparently, that boy from Class-C now has a girlfriend.”

“There’s a lot of boys around in the academy, can you be specific.”

“You know, the boy who’s always sparring in the training grounds with that one girl Jessica. I don’t remember his name, but apparently him and Jessica are now officially dating.” she said as she sounded quite cheerful.

“Oh, you mean Soril? Wait, weren’t they already dating? I thought they were.”

“No, I think it became official over the summer.”

“That’s a bit surprising. I thought Soril was a playboy.”

“Eh? And why do you think that?”

“Well, From what I heard, Soril, apparently he gets a lot of love letters each day at his desk but Jessica always cleans them up before he could even make it to his seat.”

“That doesn’t make him a playboy, in fact, that only makes it look like Jessica’s the obsessive type.”

“Hmm, true. Oh by the way, what did you do over the summer?”

After that, I lost interest in the conversation.

And the only thing on my mind then was him…being with her.

It made me restless…

It made me think erratically.

Why…

Why her…

Why her and not…me?

…Me?

Why did I think of myself like that…

What made me think that this was what I wanted…

But the more I think about it…the more I felt true to myself…true to what I wanted…

So when I considered the idea that I wanted him…

My heart beated ever so rough, like a drum continuously echoing inside my own body.

I realized it… I realized that I felt something for that boy…

So I left.

I had to figure out what I wanted…My heart couldn’t accept it, so I remained with a blurred thought.

I didn’t go to school for half of the day…and when recess arrived, I met with Jason.

And I told him that I wanted to apologize to Soril personally…

But that wasn’t my intentions…

I wanted us to be closer…

And to fix the relationship we currently had, I had to be the one to act on my desire…

So first, I had to become his friend.

***

“I want us to be friends, Soril. Real friends. I know I’ve made that difficult, but I’m willing to change if you’ll give me a chance.” she said as she looked ever so innocent in his eyes…

But behind that, her intentions were entirely different.

‘I want him to be mine…’

‘I need him to be mine…’

‘mine..mine…mine…mine…’

Soon enough, something dark inside her grew.

But outside, Soril could not see what was brewing inside her.

He could only see the pure intentions she brought out for him. With her vulnerable expression in display, he was blind to the fact that she had already fallen in love with him to such a degree.

“Alright,” He said slowly, a small smile forming.

“I accept your apology. Let’s start fresh, as friends.”

Her face lit up with relief and gratitude.

“Thank you, Soril. I promise, I’ll try my best to be a better friend.”

As they began to eat, the atmosphere shifted from awkward to hopeful. This was indeed the start of something new, and maybe, just maybe, something wonderful.

But that was only the beginning. To Jessabelle, this was the first step to attaining his heart…from a friendship, to a hopeful end of a romantic relationship…

Her desire simply pushed her to act this far and Soril was clueless to her desires.

She wont give up just because some girl got to him first, she’s willing to do anything…anything for her desire to bear fruit.